If there’s one coach counting on freshman Drue Tranquill to find the football field, it’s head coach Brian Kelly. He was the driving force in the recruitment of the Indiana native, an offer that came later in the evaluation period and after Tranquill was committed to Purdue.

But once Notre Dame came around, Tranquill followed, and the Irish landed a unique athlete that’ll start his career at safety but looks to have the ability to grow into a linebacker. (He’s already bigger than start James Onwualu.)

Another Fort Wayne product playing for the Irish, let’s take a closer look at the freshman.

DRUE TRANQUILL6’1.5″ 225 lbs.
Freshman, No. 23

RECRUITING PROFILE

Tranquill’s offer list shows the concerns some colleges had with the standout from Carroll High. Not long enough to be a linebacker and maybe not fast or dynamic enough to be a defensive back, running back or wide receiver. But Tranquill’s tape showed a great football player, and after backing away from his commitment to Purdue, Tranquill ultimately chose the Irish over offers from programs like Penn State, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Miami (OH), and Indiana.

If you’re to believe the reports during his recruitment, Notre Dame saw him as a linebacker from the start while Tranquill wanted to play safety. But Kelly stepped back from that assessment, talking about Tranquill’s recruitment and the type of player he saw on Signing Day.

“We weren’t looking for his position at the time because we were really full, and he was playing safety,” Kelly recalled. “But he kept jumping out at us. This kid was making plays, and Coach Hiestand kept banging me about ‘Hey, listen, watch this kid,’ and we kept looking at him, and he’d keep making plays during camp… It got to the point where I watched more film, we watched more film. I loved his attitude. I loved the way he played the game. I said, we’re going to offer him as a head coach’s offer. Head coach can offer anybody, right? Coach, we don’t have a scholarship. I said, well, we’ve got a scholarship now.

“So I offered him a scholarship, and we really didn’t have a position for him because we just loved the way he played the game, and so that’s kind of how the recruiting process went on Drue. People have asked does he play safety, does he play running back? I don’t know where he plays, but he’s going to play somewhere here at Notre Dame because he’s a darned good football player, he’s athletic, he’s competitive, and we’ll find a place for him somewhere. He’s one of those guys if he’s going to play at Notre Dame he’s going to play somewhere because he’s a really good football player.”

UPSIDE POTENTIAL

In Brian VanGorder’s new scheme, there’s room for athletes of Tranquill’s size, with the distinction between linebacker and safety blurred. But with the type of talent Notre Dame’s bringing in, Tranquill will be in a fight to make it into the two-deep, needing to differentiate himself in the meeting rooms or by building a reputation on special teams.

But as we saw in the past few weeks, all worries of Notre Dame being “full” when it comes to scholarships are usually just expressed before a few roster spots open up, and the three walk-ons awarded scholarships last week speak to the fact that it’s okay to use a scholarship for a player you believe in, even if you’re not sure how he’ll see the field.

It’s not necessarily a fair comparison, but watching Tranquill’s high school tape and early work in training camp, I thought back to an undersized hybrid player Pete Carroll got a lot out of named Matt Grootegoed. Tranquill’s much bigger than the former Trojan All-American, but Carroll took an excellent high school player (Grootegoed starred at Orange County power Mater Dei) and turned him into a consensus All-American.

CRYSTAL BALL

No, I’m not predicting Tranquill to be the next Grootegoed. But for all the umbrage that comes from Kelly and the Irish staff sticking to their convictions on a prospect that may only garner three stars, consider the fact that this staff made a living and built a reputation on finding and identifying below-the-radar athletes who can find a way to thrive on the football field.

A football program may be led by stars like Jaylon Smith and Greg Bryant, but it’s built on the backs of players like Tranquill. Physically, Tranquill looks the part of a college-ready athlete, a workout warrior that came to campus developed and ready to contribute.

That should get him some work as a gunner covering kicks, while he continues to learn the nuances of playing in space at the college level, a world of difference from Indiana high school football. Ultimately, Tranquill will get his chance to find a role in VanGorder’s sub packages. But for now, getting on the field and wreaking havoc on special teams should be enough.

BTW, Sunday morning I finally had a chance to watch that ESPN college preview special. News Flash: Kirk Herbstriet is a pud. He predicts that we will only get 7 wins. Even Howard, who, as a scUM grad hates us, predicted 9. So at seven wins, who does he think we are going to lose to? FSU and Stanford appearently. Does he really think Michigan, Arizona State or USC are locks to beat us?! He’s just an ass.

With our current talent level, even with this schedule, we win a minimum of 9. Kirk quit smoking the fake turf as Tattoo U

Lets face it we are the leftover aftermath of the Big East. Syracuse has a shot at us and I bet we beat Rice by 7 or fewer points. Sparty is going to win the Big Ten and is going to the playoffs. Until we can get Solid coaching and tuff players you can forget about it. Golson is not as great as people think and our Defense will be ranked about the 80’s….

Remember that you are Mr. Recruitnik that talks about ND not having the talent to keep up with USC, Stanford, FSU and Michigan, yet you think a team like Rice a team with zero 4 or 5 star players on their entire roster and less 3 star players than ND has 4 star players is, on the road, going to stay within 7 points of Notre Dame.

A Rice team that has lost 10 starters from last year’s team including their QB and best RB and got blown out in their bowl game by a 6-6 Mississippi State team by the score of 44-7.

The shallowness of your college football knowledge is mind boggling. It’s almost Al Lesar-like.

Regardless of whatever position he eventually grows into, I expect him to be a full-time special teams BEAST. he’s just too much of w gamer to not see the field. (He’s also already heavier than Heuerman, but I digress)

Also, I might be mistaken but doesn’t he have a.brother who’s a more heralded prospect at Cornerback?

Let’s not forget that STeams is a critical 1/3 of the formula for a championship caliber team. An area where we’ve struggled in recent years. I hope we see this kid wreak some havoc on STeams while he finds his way in to the rotation.

Yes, Drue has a younger brother, Justin, that is currently a high three star on Rivals, 247, & ESPN. He grades 89 on those & 90 will get you a fourth star. He is a four star on Scout. Justin is listed as an ATH & has reportedly ran in the mid 4.4’s at several camps.

Not trying to be a know it all, just spreading the news I have read. I get most of my info from IrishEnvy.com. It’s by far the best ND message board out there. The mods are pretty quick to rid the site of trolls & there are some guys that have inside info that has always panned out. If any of you guys check it out & end up joining (it’s free), send me a private message & I will give ya some vbucks to gamble with. I go by bigedefense on there.

Tranquill will prove to be anything but that to opposing offenses.
you know Desmond Howard is going to be anti-ND. and so it the team coming in for our second game. Michigan. the barometer on how our season will pan out is to beat Rice by 40 points and not allow them to score. if we do this, look out Michigan, and all the rest. if we do not, ut oh.
it’s truth time, are we the Fighting Irish or the Fibbing Irish. I’ll answer that: THE FIGHTING IRISH!